Search teams have found body parts and far-flung wreckage and presume that all five people were killed, Swedish authorities said Saturday.

"We found large quantities of debris in the search area, and we also found parts of human bodies," police spokesman Borje Ohman told a news conference in Nikkaluokta, near Kiruna where the plane was headed.

"When a plane that big hits a mountain, as happened here, it explodes, and that is probably what happened," he said, quoted by Swedish news agency TT.

He said search efforts were continuing but ruled out finding survivors.

"There's no doubt that this is the right plane," Ohman said, noting that the captain's flight plan was found.

The cargo plane en route from Evenes, Norway, to Kiruna was reported missing on Thursday when it failed to land some 25 minutes after its last contact with air traffic controllers.

It was taking part in the Norwegian-led Cold Response 2012, with some 16,000 people joining from 15 countries.

Swedish police are investigating what caused the plane to crash into the west face of the Kebnekaise mountain range, which includes Sweden's highest peak at 2,106 metres (6,909 feet).